GOOD LOOKING OUT: It's time to check in on those cosmically unlucky Tampa residents who manage to have traffic accidents with police vehicles. In fairness, sometimes the police cars are unmarked. Take the man who crashed his 1992 Honda into an officer driving an unmarked, 1998 Ford Taurus on I-275 north of Hillsborough Avenue. The cop had slowed due to traffic and the man in the Honda apparently didn't notice. These accidents don't just happen on the highway, however. An officer in a marked police cruiser was sitting at a red light on County Line Road when a woman driving a 2004 Toyota hit him from behind, causing approximately $500 in damage to both vehicles. Finally, a Tampa man driving his 1993 Lincoln on East 11th Avenue "failed to observe traffic in the east curb lane." Unfortunately for him, that traffic consisted of an officer in an unmarked unit who crashed into the right side of the Lincoln resulting in $3,000 worth of damage to the Lincoln and $2,500 worth of damage to the cruiser. Fortunately, in all three cases the only thing injured was the pride of the unobservant.
SMASHING GOOD TIME: Just before 6 a.m. on Nov. 17, Tampa police received a report of a man "smashing windows with his bare hands and a brick" at a residence on Nebraska Avenue. And I do mean bare hands. Officers arrived to find the suspect still in the residence, and when ordered to come out the guy emerged "bloody about his arms and upper torso," and unwilling to follow additional orders. A short burst from the taser later, the man was taken into custody. All told, the man had smashed 30 windows in the residence, some of which were considered antique. (Total value $4,000.) The suspect admitted to two other crimes (grand theft and criminal mischief) in the "general vicinity" and was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital for his injuries.
WHERE'S THE BEEF? The things people attempt to steal continually amaze me. Take the November burglary of the Coffee Cup Restaurant on N. Hubert Avenue in Tampa. When the manager arrived for work in the morning, she found the front-door window smashed by a brick. The only thing missing was a 35mm camera, but whoever broke in apparently had eyes on a bigger prize. Per the incident log: "The suspect attempted to take a case of meat, but was unable to get the case through the entry point."
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2006.